The last, and only, African player to win the Ballon d’Or was George Weah in 1995 after outstanding performances for PSG and AC Milan.

Since then, no African player has even made the top three in the voting, and the bookies agree with Eto’o that Salah and Mane will miss out this year.

Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk is the hot favourite to win the award, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in contention, but Salah, Mane and another Reds team-mate, Alisson Becker, lagging behind in the odds.